Wests Tigers advertise football department supremo role on Seek to surprise of Penrith Panthers

The Wests Tigers are looking for someone for a similar role to Phil Gould’s at Penrith.Source:News Limited

THE next coach of Wests Tigers will be accountable to a football department supremo, after the embattled club posted a job ad on recruitment website Seek for a role similar to Phil Gould’s at Penrith.

With coach Mick Potter’s future under a cloud, the Tigers are running out of time to make decisions on their playing roster for next season, and currently have no one in the football department with the authority to make those calls.

According to the Seek advertisement, the “general manager — football operations” will count the head coach, and recruitment and development manager among their direct reports and will “oversee the contracting of all players within NRL, 2nd Tier and NYC salary cap terms and conditions.”

The Wests Tigers are looking for someone for a similar role to Phil Gould’s at Penrith.Source:News Limited

“The General Manager — Football Operations is responsible for the organisation, planning and delivery of all operational, welfare, educational, administrative and logistical support within the Wests Tigers Football program and for ensuring effective communication and work practices between the Football Operations team and the broader business units within the Wests Tigers,” the ad states.

“You will be responsible for the co-ordination of coaches, support staff and the recruitment and contracting of players.”

Interestingly, the ad also states the successful applicant will “work with Coaches and Player Leadership group to ensure club discipline is maintained” — perhaps a response to the Tigers’ season turning to rubble after a public slanging match involving captain Robbie Farah’s criticism of coach Mick Potter.

Penrith board member Greg Alexander helped oversee the process to bring Gould to the Panthers in 2011 — a move which has been widely applauded by the rugby league community.

Other clubs, including the Tigers, are starting to borrow ideas from the Panthers’ model, but Alexander raised concerns about how the Tigers were going about it.

The Tigers’ job ad for a general manager of football.Source:Supplied

While roster management was one issue, Alexander wondered why the Tigers would advertise the position on a job website like Seek, rather than head hunting specific targets.

“I noticed that yesterday,” Alexander said of the job ad.

“And I thought, ‘Wow, why do they need to advertise on an employment website?’ I don’t know what sort of person they’re looking for.

“The role that Gus provides Penrith couldn’t be done by someone who doesn’t have an intimate knowledge of the workings of rugby league.

“The role of general manager of Panthers couldn’t be done by a businessperson. This is a highly specialised rugby league position.

Mick Potter and Robbie Farah have had their problems this season. Pic: Mark EvansSource:News Corp Australia

“It needs that sort of person with a background that just knows how the game is won, knows the politics, knows the salary cap, and knows the players too.

But the Tigers might be putting the cart before the horse, with news emerging that the club is looking to clean out its roster before the general manager of football gets his feet under the table.

The Daily Telegraph on Thursday revealed Tim Moltzen was one of five players the Tigers have allowed to look for other clubs after telling them they wouldn’t be wanted next season.

According to the Telegraph’s report, Jack Buchanan, Kurtis Rowe, Nathan Brown and Joel Luani are the other players who have been tapped on the shoulder, while emerging star Blake Austin could be on his way to Canberra, despite being under contract.

Wests Tigers have had a dismal end to the 2014 season. Pic: Mark EvansSource:News Corp Australia

Alexander revealed that Penrith’s chase for Gould started when then-Tigers coach Tim Sheens knocked back the Panthers’ head coaching role after they’d made the decision to part ways with Matthew Elliott.

They decided they needed a senior rugby league figure on board and targeted Gould with the flexibility to let him write his own job description.

“Gus’s role at the club morphed into what it is now. There’s a bit of a story behind it — we were after Tim Sheens to coach the side because Matthew Elliott was on the way out.

“Tim Sheens in retrospect probably wishes he had taken the role but he stayed at the Tigers.

Part of the job ad on Seek shows who the general manager of football will oversee.Source:Supplied

“When that fell through we decided to get Gus on board. We did that, and then his role morphed into what it is today and it became his job to find the coach, and Gus recruited Ivan.”